BOYNTON OFFICIAL MAKES PLEA FOR JOB COMMISSIONERS MAY OBLIGE HIM, BUT ARE COMMITTED TO OTHER LAYOFFS

BOYNTON BEACH -- Fire inspector Chris Wandell brought his wife and 8-month- old boy to Wednesday night's City Commission meeting and implored commissioners not to lay him off.

The plea may have saved his job.

The commissioners, who two months ago planned to lay off both of their full-time fire inspectors, decided they may keep them.

"I live here and I pay taxes, too. It's a little bit of money a week to keep important jobs in the city," said Wandell, 24.

But not all city employees were as lucky.

After listening to a dozen residents speak out at a public hearing on the proposed $28 million budget, commissioners remained committed to laying off several other employees instead of raising property taxes.

Commissioners have been adamant about keeping the tax rate at the current level -- $8.34 for each $1,000 of taxable property value.

"I can understand the Fire Department watching two of their own going down the drain and wanting to protect their own," said Vice Mayor Ed Harmening, "but we don't have a printing press turning out these green things."

Commissioners have scheduled another public hearing for Sept. 18. That is also their deadline for voting on the final budget.

While they still have two weeks to peruse the budget, commissioners formally set the tax rate at last year's level.

Among residents' ideas for saving money:

-- Selling the sanitation department to a private company, a proposal which commissioners voted down three months ago.

-- Forcing city employees to work one day next year without pay or benefits.

-- Getting rid of the Community Improvement Department, which spends more than $500,000 of city, state and federal money to clean up blighted neighborhoods.

Instead, commissioners are still considering laying off eight full-time and four part-time employees.

Mayor Arline Weiner warned residents that if those cuts seemed drastic "it could get much worse during the year. Much worse."